scantling vs scruple

scantling

adj
  • Not plentiful; small; scanty. 

noun
  • A small, upright beam of timber used in construction, especially less than five inches square. 

  • Timber in the form of small beams and pieces. 

  • The set size or dimension of a piece of timber, stone etc., or materials used to build ships or aircraft. 

scruple

verb
  • To excite scruples in; to cause to scruple. 

  • To hesitate or be reluctant to act due to considerations of conscience or expedience. 

  • To regard with suspicion; to question. 

noun
  • Hesitation to act from the difficulty of determining what is right or expedient; doubt, hesitation or unwillingness due to motives of conscience. 

  • A weight of ¹⁄₂₈₈ of a pound, that is, twenty grains or one third of a dram, about 1.3 grams (symbol: ℈). 

  • A Hebrew unit of time equal to ¹⁄₁₀₈₀ hour. 

How often have the words scantling and scruple occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )